Home-prepared or blenderized enteral nutrition formulations should be discarded after which time?

• A. 6 hours
• B. 12 hours
• C. 24 hours
• D. 48 hours

Answer: (C)

Blenderized or home-prepared enteral formulas are highly perishable and prone to contamination, so they must be treated with perishable-food safety rules. If the prepared feed is kept in the refrigerator, the safe maximum time to use it is 24 hours. After that, even with refrigeration, the risk of microbial growth increases, so discard. At room temperature, such feeds should be discarded far sooner—typically around 4 hours—to prevent rapid bacterial multiplication. Therefore, 24 hours is the appropriate discard time for refrigerated blenderized formulations. The other options either cut the window too short or allow too long a storage time, increasing safety risks.